The Holding Company for Water and Wastewater (HCWW) will present a proposal to change the way of calculating water-consumption bills to the cabinet.
Chairperson of the company, Mamdouh Raslan, told Daily News Egypt that the suggestion includes amending the segments so that the first segment ranges from 1 to 10 cubic metres per day, while the second segment would be from 11 to 21 cubic metres, and the third from 21 to 30 cubic metres.
The current scheme is divided into the first segment between 0 and 10 cubic metres per day, the second from 0 to 20 cubic metres, and the third between 0 and 30 cubic metres.
Raslan explained that the application of this proposal will contribute to providing a specific number of metres at a lower price, especially with the anticipated increase in water prices across all segments. The expected increase in the first segment is 5 piastres and goes up gradually with each segment.
He noted that if the cabinet approves the scheme, it will be applicable from the second bill after approval.
Raslan pointed out that lost water accounts for 30% of all water consumed, due to consumption behaviours.
Egypt faces considerable challenges in the water sector, such as the increasing demand on water on the back of growing population rates, along with the limited resources.
Raslan said that HCWW has obtained several loans from different international entities to improve the quality of water, such as the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
He pointed out that 85% of drinking water comes from the Nile, 14% from groundwater, and 1% from desalination plants, adding that the company is implementing a EGP 1bn project to replace and renew the water pipeline.
